Pink slip deserved but unlikely

GWEN KNAPP, EXAMINER COLUMNIST

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, December 3, 1997

THE rationalizations started trickling in on Tuesday, Day 1 of Latrell Sprewell's too-short suspen sion from the Warriors. They were posed as questions: Why did he assault coach P.J. Carlesimo? Was he provoked? What did Carlesimo, renowned as a high-decibel coach, say or do beforehand?

The questions might lead to some juicy details about the fight at Monday's practice. But they also lead to yet another question: Who cares?

Short of a racial slur, which no one has reported, Carlesimo couldn't have said anything that would constitute mitigating circumstances.

Carlesimo is known as a screamer in the college mold, like Cincinnati's Bob Huggins and Indiana's Bob Knight. He is not the beloved old gym-teacher type whose players all think of him as a second father.

Maybe the sports world should reject that type of coach, as much as it frowns on show-boating players. But that's a separate issue, and neither behavior justifies a violent response.

The average person, upon hearing all the details of Monday's skirmish, might sympathize with Sprewell's frustration. Who hasn't had an insufferable boss now and then?

But the average person who assaults the average boss twice in a single afternoon becomes, on the average, unemployed.

Because of the NBA's guaranteed contracts, salary cap and reverence for talent regardless of the psyche wrapped around it, Sprewell isn't facing an instant pink slip. Instead, he faces a reduced salary of roughly $6.7 million this year, followed by about $17.5 million over the next two years.

As a bonus, he just might receive a transfer, moving to another team, which is what he wanted all along.

At the moment, Sprewell is being coddled, protected from the usual consequences of such actions. The Warriors have the option of trying to void his four-year, $32 million contract, but they are tiptoeing around that course.

IN THE TEAM'S formal letter explaining his suspension, according to someone who saw the document, the Warriors said that they reserved the right to terminate his contract. A clause in the standard NBA contract permits termination for moral reasons. But for now, the Warriors' threat appears to be mere saber-rattling, intended to persuade Sprewell to go through the obligatory public apology, promises to behave, etc. - whatever will ease the way to a trade.

With that in mind, the Warriors have imposed only a 10-game suspension on a player who can't possibly expect to play for them ever again.

The players association, showing admirable restraint, has not filed an appeal of the suspension and seems disinclined to take up Sprewell's cause with any fervor.

Perhaps the union recognizes its responsibility to the rest of the players, the hundreds of athletes who have never attacked their coaches. At some time in their careers, most of them have been yelled at, denied playing time or forced into an offense that they hated. To minimize Sprewell's accountability is an insult to them, and an affront to the discipline required of world-class athletes.

Sprewell hasn't offered his side of the story yet, and there may be information forthcoming that nobody can even imagine. But tales of an infuriating boss and an inflamed temper won't suffice.

IF THAT'S all he can say, he should lose his job, forfeit his extravagant contract, and be forced to start over. He is 27, hardly a lost cause - despite his meteoric rise to No. 1 head case in the NBA.

He deserves another chance, just like any 27-year-old. If cut loose by the Warriors, he could sign on with another team at a reduced income. (Salary-cap restraints would prevent any team from matching his Warriors' pay this year.) After this season, he would be a free agent, and the Warriors would have more room under the salary cap to pursue free agents of their own.

But first there would be an epic legal battle, and the Warriors would have to muster uncharacteristic nerve for that.

In the NBA, only two players have ever lost guaranteed contracts to the morals clause, and both of them (Richard Dumas and Roy Tarpley) had been banned by the league for substance abuse. Their teams didn't choose to dump them.

No matter what, Sprewell stands a good chance of besting the Warriors in this confrontation. Even if they void his contract, he could come out a winner, if he eventually gets a bigger deal with a stronger team. In hitting his coach, he would have achieved his goal.

So the next time a player assaults his coach, and someone wants to know why, the answer could be even simpler than it is now. He did it because he knew he could, and that's the ultimate provocation.&lt;